Demian Carey Gibbins – The Interiors Addict

Our 10 best interviews from the heartfelt to the hilarious

After two years and over 1,000 articles(!), my time at Interiors Addict has come to end. It truly is bittersweet. To think I started as the editorial assistant, still at uni, working one day a week and feeling very out of my comfort zone… and now I’m here, the outgoing features editor, off to tackle the big bad world as a news producer at Sky News. Goodbye cushions, hello current affairs, business and politics (wish me luck!).

So to mark my departure, I thought I’d do one more list post. Below, I’ve put together my favourite interviews, from the motivational and heartfelt to the hilarious and oh so juicy.

Maisie Callcott is one inspiring teenager. Starting her business at the mere age of 12, the now 16-year-old runs Maypole Design, an online business selling wall hangings, rope-based jewellery and accessories and clay bowls. They’re beautiful and crazy affordable.

Now this was one interview I was quite nervous about. I made Jen read it and then re-read it again. After all, you can’t have any grammatical errors in an article about the editor-in-chief of Vogue Living, Neale Whitaker! He talked all things The Block, life in magazine-world and his many varied inspirations.

I had the fortune of interviewing Shaynna Blaze on more than one occasion, but this interview was certainly my favourite. As a Block judge, resident designer on Selling Houses Australia, author and so much more, Shaynna got very honest as she opened up about her favourite contestants, copping flak and how she juggles it all.

What a life Jeff Leatham has led! As the go-to florist to the stars, he’s designed floral arrangements for some of Hollywood’s biggest celebrities and his stories, unsurprisingly, are juicy!

There’s nothing quite like a story where someone loses it all but bounces back stronger and better than ever. It makes for some good motivational reading and the story of Claire Falkiner, founder of Merci Perci, is just that. Losing her job just days before Christmas and two weeks before her husband lost his, she decided to change paths and is now a successful artist doing what she loves.

With so many homewares businesses out there it can be hard to stand out from the crowd. But one small business which has been able to do so is Hunting For George, who recently celebrated their fifth birthday. So it seemed only natural we ask: how do sisters Jo Harris and Lucy Glade-Wright do it?!

While I’ve interviewed many interior designers it’s hard to compete with the impressiveness of Jeff Copolov, interior design director at Bates Smart. With the firm having a 162-year-old history (now 163!) the projects Jeff has been involved in are absolutely jaw-dropping.

Demian Carey Gibbins has a story many will envy. Feeling like his corporate career was ruling his life, he decided to hand in his resignation and return to his childhood love of painting. Having been a finalist in a range of renowned awards, his most interesting venture has been coordinating a successful exhibition of Bali 9 ringleader Myuran Sukumaran’s paintings.

The making of Incy Interiors is quite the fairytale. Starting with humble ambitions, founder Kristy Withers began the business when after a fruitless search for a bed for her son she decided to design one herself. Now, she’s runs a business of 13 people, has a new flagship store in Sydney’s Chatswood Chase and sells both kids and adult furniture.

No one likes to talk cleaning, but for Murchison-Hume we will make an exception! What started as a local Sydney business has now well and truly gone international, but founder Max Kater’s mission has remained the same: for her products to be the trifecta of safe and green, looking and smelling great and performing well.

We hope you liked this list.

Demian Carey Gibbins on his move from corporate life to full-time artist and working with Myuran Sukumaran

After a 10-year career in the corporate world, Demian Carey Gibbins decided to dramatically change direction. Feeling like he was living for his job, he made the decision to take action, to search for significance and make his life count. So without anything lined up, he handed in his resignation (much to his boss’ surprise!) and returned to his childhood love: painting.

“Since I resigned in January 2014, I have spent several months painting, made it to the semi finals of the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize with a painting of celebrated musician Jon Hume and coordinated a successful exhibition of reformed Bali 9 ringleader Myuran Sukumaran’s paintings in Melbourne with Ben Quilty and Julian McMahon. I also travelled a lot, meeting interesting people (including Myuran) and being creatively inspired.”

What immediately stands out when Demian reflects on his first year as a full-time artist is his collaboration with Myuran. Working as the exhibition and event manager for last year’s exhibit, Paintings from Kerobokan Prison – By Myuran Sukumaran, the experience was something Demian was originally hesitant to get involved in. “When I first got asked if I’d like to help run a show for this man on death row, who has been convicted and was guilty of trying to smuggle heroin, there was obviously a sense of hesitation. So I had to think about it. I started researching art rehabilitation, especially in respect to prisons, and I was blown away by what a worthwhile endeavour it was. So I quickly changed my mind and got involved.”

487858-b40c667c-34c4-11e4-b602-27137950fdd4-1 — Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s portrait by Myuran Sukumaran

For Demian, it also became apparent how amazing the effects of art rehabilitation had been on Myuran, getting to watch him work up close and personal in the Bali prison. “Before he was moved (to the execution site) he was running art therapy classes for the other inmates. He’s very motivated, focused on being productive, making himself useful and giving other people purpose. Then you add to that – and this is what really tipped it for me — his art is incredible. I’ve got a couple of his works on my walls.”

Alongside managing Myuran’s exhibition, Demian is also in the midst of preparing for his own show, which will open on 12 June in a pop-up space at Mirvac’s soon-to-open Array development in Melbourne’s Docklands. “My upcoming show will be a culmination of two years’ hard work. Inspired by the places I’ve been and the people I’ve met, it will showcase a considerable amount of work.”

Specialising in landscapes and portraiture, Demian’s central focus is perspective and texture — he even encourages people to touch his paintings! Inspired by impressionist and post-impressionist artists, his body of work, at first glance, may not seem all that cohesive. “A comment from some people is that my work is quite diverse. But I guess for me, I paint cities because I live in the city and cities have had a really significant impact on me. However, for me the thing that is most memorable about the cities I’ve visited is the people I’ve met, so that’s where the relationship between my landscapes and portraiture comes in. And you’ll definitely see it in my show!”

Demian’s art is available through his website. For more information.